Ottawa County will lease goats to graze on invasive species at park properties

Ottawa County will use goat herds to gobble up invasive species at some parks. In this photo, a young goat jumps over a meadow during warm and sunny weather at Gut Aiderbichl in Henndorf in the Austrian province of Salzburg, Monday, April 7, 2014. AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson

WEST OLIVE, MI – Ottawa County parks officials are turning to goats to try to get rid of invasive species at several of its properties.

Starting next month, the parks department will use goats to graze on invasive species at the Bur Oak open space area near Coopersville, the Eastmanville Bayou open space area and Riverside Park, a Michigan Department of Natural Resources-owned park that is managed by the county.

It’s believed to be the first project of its kind in Michigan, county parks Natural Resources Coordinator Melanie Manion said.

Manion had proposed using goats as an alternative to using herbicides on invasive species after seeing several presentations on the practice at nationwide conferences. She says Bur Oak has a serious problem with Oriental bittersweet, a woody vine that is prevalent throughout that property.

“It keeps any young trees, shrubs or wildflowers from growing, and it takes down mature trees,” Manion said. “It’s a real nasty plant.”

Some other invasive species that will be targeted in the program include bush honeysuckle, autumn olive, poison ivy and buckthorn, Manion said.

“The best time (to have the goats out) is when the plants are actively growing,” she said. “(When we start) will be weather-dependent.”

Goats are seen as a cost-effective alternative to herbicides, and allows for access to locations where mowers or machinery might not otherwise be able to reach. They may be able to eliminate 90 percent of invasive woody plants over a three-year period where goats are allowed to graze, Manion said.

The program will cost $5,500 this year – a one-time $3,000 cost for fencing along with another $2,500 that will be spent annually to lease the goats. The Friends of Ottawa County Parks donated $2,500 toward the project, Manion said.

Parks officials will evaluate the program after this summer to determine if any unexpected issues come up, but plans call for continued use of goats each of the next two years, Manion said.